[tools-pmc] Xtend2

[Sven Efftinge <sven@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

coming back to this, what would be the preferred way to propose Xtend2 as a project under Tools?

Wayne said a simple restructuring would be sufficient, while Doug would like to hear more about our expectations regarding community growth.

Let me write something down here, so you can provide comments.

The general idea is to move the already IP-approved code from Xtext to tools.xtend changing the namespace of the bundles to 'org.eclipse.xtend2'.
The first release under the new project would be 2.3 and should be released as part of the Juno release train in June, 2012.

*Committers*

This would be the list of initial committers :

 - Dennis Huebner, itemis
 - Holger Schill, itemis
 - Jan Koehnlein, itemis
 - Knut Wannheden, paranor
 - Michael Clay, codeworkz
 - Moritz Eysholdt, itemis
 - Sebastian Zarnekow, itemis
 - Sven Efftinge, itemis (proposed project lead)

All of them have contributed and plan to contribute on the code base.

*Scope*

The scope of the language is to offer a modern and concise alternative to Java implementations. The project contains anything from the definition and implementation of the language to all kinds of tools supporting development with the language, including powerful Eclipse-based IDE-support.

*Description* 

The language Xtend has a strong focus on leveraging all the good parts of Java, including seamless integration with the huge amount of Java frameworks and libraries out there. Experienced Java developers can get started with Xtend in almost no time, since everything is so familiar. The editor integrates tightly with Eclipse’s Java tooling to ensure a seamless integration in the IDE as well. Everyone who knows how JDT works, will understand the Xtend IDE right away.

The good parts of Java make for a great basis, but Xtend is all about extending that. For instance, you can now simply discard all that boilerplate you are used to generate using your IDE. Reasonable defaults, type inference, and some other powerful features can make code surprisingly readable. Closures and operator overloading are fun things to have as well. With Xtend you can use such beyond-Java features without learning a whole new language.

Xtend is not meant to be a replacement for Java but serves more as an add-on. When working with Xtend you still write the interfaces, enums, and annotations in Java. There’s currently little value in changing the syntax of these concepts, as they are already very compact, well-known, and tooling-wise nicely supported. However, this might change in the future.

*Community*

To support the growth of the community we are going to:
 - provide a solid and high-quality technology
 - be supportive in bugzilla
 - be supportive on the mailing list 
 - write blog posts
 - write articles
 - give presentations

I personally don't have any expectations regarding community growth. 
The goal is to make Xtend a language/tool which is helpful and enjoyable to use.

Comments are welcome!

Best Regards,
Sven